we think we have problems with positioning accuracy...

ideology · Post by **ideology** » 29 July 03 8:25 am

Satellite's gone, we're going to hit: skipper
By Joel Gibson
July 29 2003

A glitch in the global positioning system (GPS) has been blamed for the sinking of a yacht after it ran onto rocks north-east of Coffs Harbour early yesterday.

...

"The boys woke me up at the right time to figure out where we were, we looked at the GPS and the figures on that looked perfect and then about 10 minutes later it decided to update itself and we realised with a quick look at that that we were in trouble.

"I ordered a drastic alteration of course to the helmsman and about a minute later we went 'bang'.

...

"It's always a dark night when you go through and you bite your fingernails every time and this time we got caught," he said.

there's a similar problem with aircraft: pilots are becoming so reliant on their gps that they forget how to perform other forms of navigation and to have an immediate backup should their gps die

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 29 July 03 9:16 am

That's exactly why GPS shouldn't be relied upon as a SINGLE PRIMARY navigation system. Three independent systems for navigation is the norm on most heavy aircraft, whether they be gps INS or the old Magnetic/Directional Gyro Compass system. And most may have backups for each of them too.

Kerry · Post by **Kerry** » 01 August 03 11:14 am

A glitch in the global positioning system (GPS) has been blamed ....

typical response in these type of "incidents"

Cheers, Kerry.